Ned Blackhawk delved into Indigenous history at All-School Meeting.
To celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Andover invited Ned Blackhawk, a historian and Professor of History at Yale University, to speak about Native American history during last week’s All-School Meeting (ASM). Blackhawk’s speech was followed by a Q&A lunch in the Underwood Room and a lecture on practices for studying indigenous history during seventh period.
Blackhawk’s speech centered on Chapter 11 of his book, The Rediscovery of America, which won the National Book Award in 2023. Titled “Indigenous Twilight at the Dawn of the Century: Native Activists and the Myth of Indian Disappearance,” the chapter highlights influential Indigenous scholars, teachers, and activists, challenging long-held stereotypes that portray Native peoples as relics of the past.
“I started this chapter with a really strong desire to challenge this mythology of American history that says that Native Americans are… antithetical to modern life, that they stand outside of the American body of politics… Indians became not only characterized outside of civilization, but they also remained in this time before time. It represented, in many ways, the opposite, or the contradistinction to the American subject,” said Blackhawk during ASM.
Kit Leckerling, Instructor in History and Dean of West Quad North Cluster, organized the event with the help of Elliot Weir ’26 and Marisol Tang Rasmussen ’26. Acting on recommendations from Emma Slibeck ’20, founder of Native Americans at Phillips Academy [NAPA], Leckerling explained the Speakers’ Committee’s motivations for inviting Blackhawk.
“Last year, I served as the faculty advisor for Marisol Tang Rasmussen and Elliot Weir when they planned and facilitated a MLK Day workshop that used [Andover]’s land acknowledgement to learn more about the Indigenous history of this region, the experiences of Native students at Andover since the 1790s, and the recommendations of Emma Slibeck…for recruiting and supporting more Indigenous students and incorporating more Indigenous literature, history, and culture into our curriculum. One of those recommendations was to invite an Indigenous scholar to speak at ASM,” wrote Leckerling.
Bruce Ru ’28 appreciated how Blackhawk’s speech helped him broaden his perspective on U.S. history and realize the number of stories that may be left untold. He noted the talk’s relevance to Andover as an institution.
“Due to the way history and social studies are portrayed, there are always voices that are yet to be captured… Andover is a very exceptional institution, but it’s an exceptional institution within a wider historical and cultural context. When you have such a pervasive issue like the omission of Native American heritage in our education system, a school like Phillips Academy is not going to be totally exempt from the negative impacts that this overall culture of omission is going to have,” said Ru.
On the other hand, Sophia Liu ’27 expressed disappointment in the ASM’s execution. Though she enjoyed the content, Liu believed the message fell short for students without a previous understanding of Native American history. She stressed the importance of providing context when discussing nuanced topics, something she wished Blackhawk could have done more of in his speech.
“When I was a lowerclassman, we didn’t learn [Native American] history as in-depth as what we’re learning in Upper year or even Senior year, and jumping straight into a chapter that’s very rich in history, I feel like he could’ve given more context of the situation. Even a brief, one-to two-minute background about what he is going to be talking about would be helpful, as some people don’t know why this is important for us,” said Liu.
Through this ASM, Weir hoped to raise awareness about Native American culture at Andover. He outlined his intentions to further this goal in the future, such as by reviving NAPA this year.
“We’re hoping to bring more ASM speakers who are Native American. I know that NAPA has been dormant for two years, so we’re trying to bring that back… It’s quite easy, especially in history classes, to include these perspectives, and hearing that Marisol hasn’t had that happen was disappointing. I hope that this helps people to start taking notice and then start integrating those things into their classes,” said Weir.
